ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Revenue announced that the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office recently charged Zhong Wei Lin, Dan Xu, Su Ling Cao, and Osaka Duluth, Inc. with two counts each of aiding in the filing of false tax returns. The St. Louis County Attorney’s Office also charged Zhong Wei Lin and Osaka Duluth, Inc. with 15 additional counts of failing to pay sales tax.
According to the complaint, Xu, Lin, and Cao intentionally used sales suppression software to remove thousands of line items from sales receipts in order to underreport their monthly sales and file at least 15 false sales tax returns in 2015 and 2016. Through their actions, the defendants and Osaka Sushi Hibachi Steak House allegedly deprived the state of more than $27,000 in sales tax revenue and the city of Duluth of more than $7,800 in local sales tax revenue.
Although charges were filed for 15 months beginning in February 2015 through August 2016, the complaint indicates that investigators found evidence that the defendants’ use of the sales suppression software dated back 35 months. The fraudulent activity allegedly cost the state and the city of Duluth more than $125,000 in total lost tax revenue during that period.
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